Apparatus for discharging packages from moving vehicles.



No. 897,412. PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908. J. ROWBOTHAM. APPARATUS FORDISGHARG'ING PACKAGES PROM MOVING VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 26, 1907.

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INVENTOR:

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THE'NDRRIS PETERS 00., WASHINGTON, n. c.

No. 897,412. PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908.

- J.. RQWBOTHAM.

APPARATUS FOR DISGHARGING PACKAGES FROM MOVING VEHICLES. v

APPLICATION FILED DEO.26 1907 2 sums-sum 2.

us NORRIS PETERS cm, wAsmuamN, u, c

JOHN ROWBOTHAM, OF CENTER SQUARE, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING PACKAGES FROM MOVING VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1908.

Application filed December 26, 1907. Serial No. 408,018.

T 0 all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, JOHN RowBoTHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Center Square, Montgomery county, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Discharging Packages from Moving Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for discharging mail contained in mail pouches or otherwise secured in packages or bundles from railway trains and it has for its object to provide means whereby the mail may be discharged from a railway train while it is in motion, the object being to occasion a movement of the package of mail in a direction opposite to that in which the train is moving and at substan tially the same speed so that the mail will strike the ground without momentum in the direction of the moving train or the opposite direction. This is desirable as a means of protecting the mail pouches or bags from unnecessarily rough usage.

A convenient embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, but it is to be understood that changes in the details and method of construction may be made within the scope of the claims, without departing from the same.

In the drawings,Figure I is a top plan view of the bottom-of a mail car provided with my invention, said invention being also shown in top plan, and the sides of the car being shown in section; Fig. II is a central longitudinal section of a portion of the car and of my invention; Fig. III is a section on the line III-III of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings,1 designates the bottom of a car; 2 designates its sides; and 8 designates sliding doors to close the openings in the sides of the car.

4 designates a truck frame; 5 designates the truck wheels; and 6 the axles associated with the truck frame.

As thus far described, the car is of usual construction.

1.0 designates a shaft supported in bearings 11, which are vertically movable on the guides 12. The bearings are suspended upon rods 13 having screw-threaded engagement with the top members 14 of the vertical frames consisting of the said top member 14,

the guides 12 and the rods 15, the whole being secured to and supported upon the underframe and the bottom of the car.

The guides 12 are provided with collars through which the ends 15 project and the member 14 rests upon the upper ends thereof. The ends 15 extendthrough the bottom of the car and are secured by nuts. A portion of the underframe 16 is shown in Figs. II and III.

The bearings 11 are provided respectively with a slotted projection 20 and each of the rods 13 project through the upper portion of one of the said projections and is provided with a head 21 by reason of the presence of which the said bearings are respectively supported by the said rods 13. The rods are adjustable, as is clearly apparent from the drawings, particularly Fig. III. The bearings 11 are movable with relation to the supporting rods 13 and interposed between the said rods and the said bearings are coiled springs 24, the purpose of which is to take up the vibratory motion of the car body and underframe due to the unevenness of the track.

25 designate friction drive wheels which are located at the opposite ends of the shaft 10 immediately above the tread of the truck wheels 5, and by reason of the vertical adjustment of the bearings 11 upon the guides 12, the said friction drive wheels may be forced down against the treads of the truck wheels so as to be driven thereby and occasion the revolution of the shaft 10.

The downward movement of the supporting rods 13 occasions pressure of the part 21 against the top of the spring 24 to compress the said spring and occasion pressure due to such compression of the friction driving wheels against the treads of. the truck wheels. By reason of the presence of such spring the pressure of said friction wheels is continuous after the bearings 11 and shaft 10 have been depressed.

30 designates beveled gear wheels loosely mounted on the shaft 10, preferably at the central portion thereof, which gear wheels when the apparatus is not in operation do not revolve with the shaft 10. If, however, it is desired to occasion revolution of either of the said wheels with the shaft, the clutch 31, which has feathered engagement with the said shaft and is, therefore, revoluble therewith, may be moved in either direction on the said shaft to engage either of the said wheels to occasion rotation thereof with the said shaft. The movement of the said clutch 31 upon the shaft 10 is occasioned by the movement of the lever 34 which extends up through the bottom of the car and which is pivoted at its lower end to a cross piece 35 which is secured to the underframe or bottom of the car, as may be desired. This lever has connection intermediate its ends to the half rings 36 which extend around the clutch 31. Movement of the lever 34 from side to side occasions movement of the clutch 31 upon the shaft 10 to engage one or the other of the gear wheels 30.

37 designates a beveled gear located upon a shaft 38 extending longitudinally of the car. The end. of the said shaft on which the beveled gear 37 is located is supported upon a yoke 40, which is in turn supported upon the shaft 10 and moves therewith when such shaft is moved up and down by reason of the adjustment of the rods 13. The gear 37 is at all times in engagement with the gears 30 but rotation thereof is not occasioned except when the clutch 31. is in engagement with one or the other of the said gears 30. The opposite end of the shaft 38 is supported by the member 41 which is secured. to the bottom of the car or to the under frame, as may be desired. The shaft 38 is provided with a gear wheel 42 which is in engagement with a gear wheel 43 having feathered engagement or connection with an upright shaft 44, the lower end of which. is supported in a socket 45 in the member 41.

48 designates a bearing secured to the bottom of the car for the upright or vertical shaft 44.

Upon the engagement of the clutch 31 with either of the gears 30, revolution thereof and also the revolution of the gear wheel 37, shaft 38 gear wheel 42, gear wheel 43, with which the latter is in engagement, and the upright shaft 44 to which the gear 43 is secured is occasioned.

51 designates an arm or lever of suitable length, which has feathered. engagement with or is otherwise secured to the upright or vertical shaft '44 and is adapted to revolve therewith.

52 design ates a support upon the top of the vertical shaft 44, upon which the central portion of a strip 53 rests. The ends of this strip 53 rest upon the upper edges of the circular sections 55 which form a portion of the walls which inelose the space in which the arm or lever revolves. These circular sections 55 are preferably stationary.

designates portions of the wall which are not only pivotally secured at the opposite ends of the sections 55 to posts 61. projecting up from the floor of the car but are also removable, one of the said. portions 60 being shown removed in Fig. I of the drawings.

The height of the parts 55 and 60 may be varied, the only requirement being that they shall be of greater height than the thickness of the mail pouch or bag 62 which is to be discharged.

63 designates doors which are pivoted to the strip or support 53 and any one of which is adapted to be opened and laid back, as isindicated in Fig. I of the drawings, for any purpose, as for instance the placing of a bag in the path of movement of the revoluble arm' or lever 51.

In Fig. I, the clutch 31 is shown as being in engagement with the lower gear wheel 30 with the car moving to the right. As a consequence, the arm or lever 51 is driven in the direction of the arrow 65 in Fig. I, so that the mail pouch or bag whichhas been thrown in front of the said arm or lever, as is indicated in Fig. I, is carried rapidly around with the said arm and is discharged through the openingsformed by removing one of the hinged members 60 and opening the other outward, as is indicated in Fig. I. It will be understood that the gearing may be such as to drive the arm or lever 51 with substantially the same speed that the car is moving so that the mail pouch or bag will be discharged from the car in a direction opposite to that in which the car is moving with a speed substantially the same as that of the car, so that the momentum of the pouch or bag due to the movement of the car is equalized by the momentum in the opposite direction due to the force and speed with which it is driven in front of the arm or lever 51.

In the use of my invention, the friction drive wheels 25 are normally out of engagement with the treads of the track'wheels 5, but as a train approaches a station at which it is desired to discharge the mail, whether one or a number of pieces, the person having the matter in charge rotates the rods 13 so as to move the shaft 10 and the friction drive wheels 25 carried thereby downward into frictional engagement with the truck wheels 5 and throws the clutch 31 in one direction or the other to engage one or the other of the gear wheels 30, so that when the train reaches the station the arm 51 is revolving rapidly, and such person may then throw a bag 62 in front of the said arm, whereby said bag will be discharged, as already stated. If there are a number of mail bags to be discharged from the car, they may be thrown'succes- Siva/1y in front f the moving arm or lever to be discharged from the train.

In order to prevent the arm or lever 51 -from striking a pouch or bag with too great force, it should be placed as near as practicable to the axis of revolution of such arm or lever and at a distance of practicallythreefourths of a revolution of such lever from the point where it is intended that the pouch or bag shall be discharged. By the time that the pouch or bag is carried to the point of discharge it will have traveled to the outer end of the arm due to centrifugal force and will, therefore, be moving with the same speed as the most rapidly moving part or portion of the said arm or lever.

It will be understood that normally all of the hinged doors 63 will be closed so that persons in the car may walk across such doors in passing from one end to the other of the car. Of course, after the mail pouches or bags have been discharged, the pivotal and movable members 60 which have been open and removed are put back in place and closed and the sliding doors 3 in the side of the body of the car may, if desired, also be closed.

Having thus described my invention, I. claim 1. In a device for discharging packages from a moving vehicle, the combination of the revoluble wheels of said vehicle, means adapted to engage the said wheels and to be driven thereby, movable means adapted to occasion the discharge of the said packages from the said vehicle, and means operatively connecting the said means driven by the said wheels and the said discharging means whereby movement of the latter is occasioned to discharge the said packages.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of an adjustable revoluble member supported upon a vehicle, means for occasioning revolution of the said member when the vehicle is in motion, means for discharging packages from the said vehicle when it is in motion, the operation of the said discharging means being occasioned by the revolution of the said revoluble member.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of an adjustable revoluble member supported upon a vehicle, means for adjusting the said member, means for occasioning revolution of the said member when it has been moved by the said adjusting means into proper relation to the said means for occasioning revolution, movable means for discharging packages from the said vehi cle while in motion, means for occasioning movement of the said discharging means interposed between the said revoluble member and the said discharging means.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a revoluble member connected to a moving vehicle, a shaft, a wheel rigidly secured to the said shaft and adapted to be driven by the said revoluble member, revoluble means located .in the said moving vehicle for discharging mail or similar matter from the moving vehicle, and driving means operatively connected to the said shaft and to the said revoluble discharging means for occasioning revolution of the latter.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a revoluble member connected to a moving vehicle, an adjustable shaft, a wheel rigidly secured to the said shaft and adapted to be driven by the said revoluble member, revoluble means located in the said vehicle for discharging packages from the moving vehicle, and driving means operatively connected to the said shaft and to the said revoluble discharging means for occasioning revolution of the latter.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of the truck wheels of a railway car, a shaft adjustably supported on the said car, friction wheels supported upon the said shaft and adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the said truck wheels, gears loosely mounted on the said shaft, a clutch mounted on the said shaft intermediate the said gears and adapted to engage either of them, a shaft extending through the bottom of the car into the interior thereof, an arm or lever rigidly secured to the said shaft, a gear connection between the first and second-named shafts, whereby revolution of the latter shaft and the arm or lever carried thereby is occasioned to dis charge packages from the moving car.

7. The GOD'lblDittlOll of revoluble means located in a moving vehicle and adapted to occasion the discharge of packages therefrom, a revoluble support for the said revoluble means, and means for occasioning revolution of the said support and discharging means.

8. The combination of revoluble means lo cated in a moving vehicle and adapted. to occasion the discharge of packages therefrom, a revoluble support for the said revoluble means, means for occasioning revolution of the said support and discharging means, and means carried by the moving vehicle for driving the last mentioned means.

9. In a device of the character described, a movable member adapted to occasion the dis charge of packages from a moving vehicle, a wall surrounding the space over which the said movable member travels, portions of which wall are movable to provide an opening for the discharge of the packages therefrom, and means for occasioning the movement of the said discharge means.

10. In a device of the character described, the combination of a movable means for occasioning the discharge of packages from a moving vehicle, walls surrounding the space over which the said discharge means travels, portions of the said walls being movable to provide an opening for the discharge of the said packages, means for occasioning move ment of the said discharge means, and a cover extending over the said walls, the said cover being divided into sections which may said bearings so that the position thereof and the said shaft may be varied with respect to each other, a wheel rigidly secured to the said shaft and adapted to be moved into con- 5 tact with the said revoluble member and to be driven thereby, a revoluble arm or lever adapted to occasion the discharge of packages from the said vehicle While it is in motion, and driving means operatively related 10 to the said shaft and to the said revoluble arm or lever for occasioning revolution of the latter In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have hereunto signed my name this 19th day of December, A. D. 1907. 15

JOHN ROWBOTHAM.

In the presence of S. SALoME BROOKE, LAURA KLEINFELDER. 

